​As British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond condemns the situation in Gaza as “intolerable,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s “inexplicable silence” on the matter is arousing widespread criticism from the public and establishment alike.

Opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has been accusing
Cameron of staying silent, as Downing Street shot back with
accusations that Miliband is “playing politics.”
However, with worldwide protests condemning Israel – including in
London – the British government seems to be waking up to the idea
that it’s being accused of indifference, all while its own
divisions are becoming public.

The massive row between Miliband and Cameron had prompted
Hammond’s comments to the Sunday Telegraph. Hammond’s
remarks are the government’s strongest since the start of
Israel’s bloody operation Protective Edge in early July.

Saying that he had received thousands of angry emails from people
expressing horror at Israel’s actions, Hammond called the Gaza
situation “simply intolerable,” and said it threatens to
lead to more anti-Semitism in the UK.

He called the situation “an endless loop of violence”
and added that while “Israel has concerns and Hamas has
concerns… we cannot allow them to stand in the way of a
humanitarian ceasefire. We have to get the killing to stop.”

Hammond further called for “rapid talks” between the
warring sides.

The foreign secretary tried to deflect criticism of Cameron’s
government by saying how “the British public has a strong
sense that the situation in Gaza is simply intolerable” and
that the Conservative leadership agrees with this assessment at a
time when the death toll in Gaza has topped 1,700.

Tel Aviv’s own casualties stand at 64 soldiers and three
civilians – its biggest loss since the 2006 war with Lebanon.

On Saturday, tensions in the UK government escalated as Miliband
broke protocol by publicly criticizing Cameron’s stance – which
would normally go against the norm of presenting a unified
non-partisan front on foreign policy. While siding with the PM on
the issue of Hamas being a “terrorist” group, Miliband
lashed out at Cameron, saying that he was “wrong not to have
opposed Israel’s incursion into Gaza. And his silence on the
killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians caused by
Israel’s military action will be inexplicable to people across
Britain and internationally.”

Downing Street promptly responded by saying that the government
was “shocked” at Miliband’s alleged misinterpretation of
Cameron’s stance.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of the Conservatives’
junior partners in government, the Liberal Democrats, also chimed
in with criticism of Israel, calling its attacks on the occupied
Palestinian territories “disproportionate,” when
compared to the Hamas rockets that hardly ever make it to their
targets in Israel.

The closest Cameron came to reflecting public unease over Gaza
was when he told the House of Commons that he had “grave
concern” at the deaths, but added that Israel had a right to
defend itself, and accusing Hamas of being the instigator of the
crisis.

These disagreements in the government come just as a
pro-Palestinian group projected the Palestinian Authority flag
onto the Houses of Parliament, repeating their call to
“free” the territories and impose sanctions on Israel.

The British public at large has also been protesting continuously
across central London, as it joined major cities worldwide in
their condemnation of Israel’s actions.